WILMINGTON Expressing gratitude to law enforcement but also frustration with a lack of information, the family of John P. Wheeler III on Sunday offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Wheeler's killer.
Wheeler, 66, a New Castle resident who was an adviser to several presidents, was found dead on Dec. 31 at a Wilmington landfill. His death was ruled a homicide.
The Delaware Medical Examiner's Office said Friday Wheeler had been beaten and listed the cause of death as blunt-force trauma.
The announcement of the reward came through attorney Colm F. Connolly, a former U.S. attorney for Delaware, whom the family hired to represent them and act as a go-between with law enforcement.
Speaking exclusively to The News Journal on
Sunday, Connolly said Wheeler's death is as much a mystery to the family as it is to the public. He said Wheeler's family is despondent over his death and "desperate" for information.
Connolly released a short statement from the family expressing appreciation for the "outpouring of sympathy and concern" they have received over the past few weeks "and for the efforts of law enforcement authorities to uncover the circumstances surrounding Jack's death."
"We have suffered a heartbreaking loss, and not knowing how Jack died amplifies the devastation we feel. Our hope in offering this reward is to encourage anyone who may have helpful information to come forward so that justice can be served," the statement concluded.
Connolly also produced a copy of a flier publicizing the reward that he said Newark police will be handing out and posting in areas they believe "will be most likely to produce leads."
Connolly said the family coordinated and timed its offer of a reward offer with Newark police in order to best assist the investigation.
However, Connolly said, the family feels isolated and out of the loop when it comes to the investigation.
"The authorities are not sharing information with them at this point,"
As a former prosecutor who most notably won a conviction against Thomas Capano for the murder of Anne Marie Fahey Connolly said he understands the need for police and prosecutors to keep some matters secret so as not to compromise the investigation. But, he said, there is some information that can safely be shared with the family of a victim, something he said he often did as a prosecutor, which is not being shared right now.
"We were very disappointed and frustrated on Friday to learn from the media that the Medical Examiner's Office had issued a report and had determined what the cause of death was," Connolly said. "The family was in the dark about that and had hoped we would hear before any public dissemination of that information."
Connolly said Wheeler's family is cooperating fully with authorities and is doing whatever it can to assist in the investigation. He said they hope putting up $25,000 of their own money will lead to a tip that brings the investigation to a close "with answers."
Delaware Crime Stoppers also is offering a $1,000 reward for information about Wheeler's death.
Filling in the timeline
Connolly also provided a few details from the family that further fill in the timeline of Wheeler's final days that has been provided by authorities.
Wheeler was in New York City on Dec. 26, where he and his wife also have a residence, and from there headed to Washington, where he worked as a part-time consultant for the MITRE Corp., which provides systems engineering and information technology services to the government.
Connolly said he is not sure what Wheeler was doing in Washington on that date, but believed it was likely related to his job or the many civic causes he was associated with.
Connolly said Wheeler then took a train from Washington to Wilmington on Dec. 28. The family last heard from him in an e-mail the morning of Dec. 29.
A Wilmington cabdriver reported picking up Wheeler at Wilmington's Amtrak station that morning.
Connolly said Wheeler's last message caused no alarm and did not betray any of the apparent disorientation witnesses described later that day and that could be seen on a surveillance video of Wheeler taken Dec. 29 at a downtown parking garage.
Connolly said he had seen the video from the parking garage adjacent to the New Castle County Courthouse, and is aware of the reports of Wheeler's disorientation but could not comment further.
He said the family has no definitive answer why Wheeler was behaving the way he was in the video.
Connolly dismissed one national media commentator's observation that Wheeler was "drunk," stating that Wheeler did not drink.
A parking attendant who saw Wheeler around 6:40 p.m. Dec. 29, without a coat and carrying one shoe, said Wheeler claimed to have been robbed of his briefcase and that he was looking for his car which, it turned out, was parked at a different garage.
Connolly said Wheeler did sometimes carry a briefcase.
Investigators have also reported that several low-powered smoke-bomb-type devices were set off in a house under construction across from Wheeler's New Castle home late on Dec. 28, causing minor damage.
That house had been the target of several lawsuits filed by Wheeler and his wife, alleging code violations, and fire officials said they had wanted to talk to Wheeler as part of their investigation.
"Police have not shared any information about that incident or suggested that there is any link between that arson and his death," Connolly said.
Seeking confirmation
The last known sighting of Wheeler was on Dec. 30 at 8:42 p.m. on a surveillance video taken at the Nemours Building at 10th and Orange Streets, where Wheeler is seen walking on 11th Street toward the city's East Side.
Wheeler's body was found about 10 a.m. Dec. 31. when it fell out of a Waste Management refuse truck at the Cherry Island Landfill. The truck was assigned to a route in Newark and began collections at 4:20 a.m.
The surveillance videos of Wheeler at the Nemours Building have not been released and Connolly said the family would like to see those videos to verify that the person seen in the recordings is in fact Wheeler.
Police said Wheeler is seen on the recordings wearing a hooded sweatshirt, but Connolly said Wheeler's family never saw him wear a hooded sweatshirt.
Connolly said a Washington-area attorney who had been acting as a go-between for Wheeler's family and Delaware law enforcement reached out to him earlier this month to take over that job because of Connolly's familiarity with Delaware.
Connolly is in private practice with law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, which has offices in the Nemours Building. Connolly said it is possible Wheeler was looking for him on Dec. 30, but he said he has no reason to believe that was the case. Connolly said he had not been hired by Wheeler or Wheeler's family at that time and had no appointment to meet with Wheeler on that day.
Connolly said he had met Wheeler only once before, in the spring of 2009.
Connolly confirmed that Wheeler's family had previously done business with a different law firm in the Nemours Building Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz whose offices Wheeler visited on Dec. 30, and where Wheeler reportedly asked for train fare before abruptly departing.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20...+his+death
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